Recommendations for really well-recorded music for high-end audio system demo


I’m using my system to give some local high-end audio demos for fun, and although I have a good selection of tracks I can always use more and am sure you guys have some great ones out there.  First and foremost I’m looking for really well-recorded material that shows off what a good system can do — you know, the “wow your friends” tracks we all have, and if it happens to be good/fun music as well that’s a nice bonus although not necessarily a requirement.  I’d recommend listing the artist, album, and track so it’s easier to find the right version, and if you feel like elaborating on anything notable that makes it particularly good for a demo that’d be helpful/interesting but not necessary.  As an example…

  • Patricia Barber, Companion, “Like JT” — Great live jazz club vibe, fun instrumental with excellent imaging/depth/3D soundstage.

Thanks for anything ya got!

soix

Ray Brown - Soular Energy

Janis Ian - Breaking Silence

K. D. Lang - Ingénue

Paul Simon - Graceland

Patricia Barber - Companion 

 GRP Artists - I Got No Kick Against Modern Jazz  (Extremely rare on LP!!)

Chuck Mangione - Everything For Love  (Chesky)

Rita Coolidge - Nice Feelin'  (The title cut is stunning!)

Joe Satriani - Self-Titled  (Kick butt electric bass)

 

 

Back in the '90s when I was being exposed to new stuff via a public radio station (91.3 WYEP) I bought Lloyd Cole's Love Story for Like Lovers Do (which is still my favorite track on that).  (I probably enjoys vocals more than all else.)  Anyway, a few years ago I broke it back out and was impressed with the sonic quality/presentation of the entire CD, but to suggest a specific track, I'd go with Like Lovers Do.

soix, I was just talking about this on another thread. From the Hendrix "Blues" release, "Born Under A Bad Sign". Raw jamming with real studio highlights. A great system should portray the trio at their best (Jimmy was in his element), and the rawness of the sounds of the studio. Incredible listening experience through my system. My best, MrD.

Just played Gets/Gilberto on Impex (IMP6041-1, 45 rpm) for the first time.  Beautiful deep-black backgrounds, beautiful tone.  One of the few times that I thought I might be listening to a R2R (if eyes closed).  I will use it to 'system dem' for friends. 

Here's a few of my favorites...

Eric Clapton  An Appreciation of JJ Cale  (Sensitive Kind) (Magnolia) (Starbound)

Joni Mitchell Blue (A Case of You)

Sarah McLachlan Fumbling Towards Ecstacy Legacy Edition (Posession) (Hold On)

Sheryl Crow (The First Cut is the Deepest Acoustic)

Peter Gabriel Security (Shock the Monkey)

Pat Metheny As Falls Witchita, So Falls Witchita (September Fifteenth)

Eric Clapton The Definitive 24 Nights (Can't Find My Way Home Orchestral)

Cannonball Adderely's Somethin Else is fantastic music and a great recording.

 

 

Alison Krauss and Union Station. “Gravity.”  First song on their album, “Lonely Goes Both Ways.”

May I suggest the following:

Artist; Mary Fahl - On the Run
Album: From the dark side of the moon
Specially going fron track2 to track3: On The Run
At the beginning of the track her voice swirls round in circle overhead - you are literally forced to look up to see if you have speakers in the ceiling!

Tracy Chapman - Give me one Reason
Front soundstage is amazing and one can clearly visualise each instrument's placement.


Artist: CAN  - SPOON Album Ege Bamyasi
Great dynamics 
 

Hugh Masekela, the track Stimela. A South African trumpeter who will certainly get your attention and anyone else's in the room.

Jennifer Warnes

Rock You Gently

The Hunter 

Actually every track sounds amazing. 

 

If you like jazz, "88 Basie Street" by Count Basie on JVC 20 bit K2 is particularly well recorded. In general many albums on JVC 20 bit K2 series are well recorded.

@simao i agree, I was amazed at how deep and wide the soundstage is on that album.  I’ve heard folks say they heard things from behind them when listening to that album.  I don’t quite have that happening but it does sound like music is coming from the left and right of my chair.

I like Prince and the Revolution’s “Baby I’m a Star” off the Purple Rain album. It’s the soundtrack to the movie by the same name. The Paisley Park remaster is the way to go. And any format is good. It shows off a system in a number of ways. And at that same note, it’s one we’re after hearing HiRez or a good vinyl setup you can’t go back. This short track is a funky grove with lots of fast symbols. Textured bass that creates a soundstage that expansive and controlled. His voice is strong and fun on this one. It’s super easy to find. Enjoy! 

IMO, Blu-Ray Audio discs are the best way to show off your your audio system; hi-def streaming is another way.

If you can afford the $$$ box sets that hold hostage the blu-ray discs, you won't be disappointed. Sargent Pepper and Who's Next are but two that come to mind.

Beck's "Guero" and the Led Zeppelin remasters on DVD audio are incredible.

Regular CD's: It's a Beautiful Day, Miles Davis "In a Silent Way", and Peter Gabriel "i/o" are well recorded also.

Chuck Mangioni ... Children of Sanchez, plays Yamaha flugelhorn (startling dynamics)

Johan Linstead and Nicholas Gunn, particularly well done latino and one of my favourites.

 

„Jazz at the Pawnshop“ is definitely worth checking out. The music - as much as I like some jazz - is not really for me but the recording is fantastic. As they say in the liner notes: „the microphone placement of a lifetime“. It‘s true! Just two mics but it‘s like you are right there.

@jastralfu  Madonna was completely dedicated and involved in the sound of her music. You listen to stuff off the Immaculate Collection and it just fills the room with detail and presence.

Cualli - Tiger Prowl  (Electronic)

Doobie Brothers - Steamer Lane Breakdown (Acoustic)

Metallica - Sad But True (Drums)

Oceans Of Slumber - The Banished Heart (Vocals)

Lionel Richie, Back to Front.

Susana Baca: Eco De Sombras

Diana Krall: Only Trust Your Heart, or any really

Raphaella Smits: Johann Sebastion Bach, Sivius Leopold Weiss

The Tony Rice Unit: Manzanita

Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade (Wiener Philharmoniker

Joni Mitchell: Blue

Frank Vincent: Indigo

Mark Isham: Vapor Drawings

 

Music1/Edgar Knecht/Good Morning Lilofee (24-96)/04 - Maria.flac
Music1/Hans Theessink/Lifeline/Six Strings Down.flac
Music1/Various Artists/HDtracks 2023 Hi-Res Sampler [192kHz · 24bit]/12 - String Quartet in G Major, Op  77, No  1, Hob III 81  Lobkowitz   IV  Finale  Presto.flac
Music1/Dave Holland/Hands/Various - Hands.flac
Music1/Edgar Knecht/Good Morning Lilofee (24-96)/03 - Thule.flac
Music1/Norah Jones/Come Away With Me (Limited Edition, Disc 1)/Norah Jones - 12 - Nightingale.flac
Music1/Cecile McLorin Salvant/Mélusine [96kHz · 24bit]/01 - Est-ce ainsi que les hommes vivent.flac
Music1/Brian Culbertson/Live From the Inside/01 Get It On.flac
Music1/Best Audiophile Voices/Best Audiophile Voices V (XRCD)/08. Bridge over troubled water - Eva Cassidy.flac
Music1/Cantoma/Cantoma/01 Cantoma - Marisi.flac
Music1/My Federation/Don't wanna Die/My Federation Don't Wanna Die 10.Tom Tom.flac
Music1/Manu Katché/Third Round/7-Out Take Number 9.flac
Music1/Manu Katché/Third Round/11-Urban Shadow.flac
Music1/Manu Katché/Playground/05 Manu Katché - Morning Joy.flac
Music1/Various Artists/Audiophile Reference IV/Georgia on My Mind.flac
Music1/Brian Bromberg/Wood/03 Come Together (Lennon,McCartney) - Brian Bromberg.flac
Music1/Hans Theessink/Songs from the Southland/Hans Theessink Songs from the Southland 05.From Four Til Late.flac
 

“Something Else” - Cannonball Adderley with Miles Davis and a great rhythm section of Hank Jones, Sam Jones and Art Blakey. QOBUZ Flac 96/24 or my preference, the vinyl reissue on Blue Note. Rudy van Gelder was the recording engineer and his work is highly respected. Look for other van Gelder albums on Blue Note and Verve by your favorite jazz artists for generally excellent sonics. Natural sound of the instruments, great placement in the soundstage and this album is simply among the best jazz albums I own. Sounds like they’re playing in your listening room.  
 

“Kind of Blue” - Miles Davis with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley and a rhythm section of Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. 192/24 on Qobuz or my favorite, a Columbia Legacy vinyl reissue in the 2000’s. My rationale is the same as for Something Else. 
 

For well recorded timeless jazz these albums are hard to best in my opinion. 

I have Mofi, Reference Recordings, Shefield Labs, Impex, AP, Blue Note, Mercury Living Presence, and most of the other labels.  In addition to standard 33&1/3, I have 45 rpm, 1/2 speed master, 1-Step, and even a single-sided 4-disc set from Classic (Nora Jones, Come Away With Me)

 

For straight SQ, the winner air my VTL LPs, a.) Doctor, b.) Josh.   The best 'value' high SQ label is Windham Hill (1/2 speed master by Stan Ricker, Bernie G., etc.)  I listen to one of them most evenings.

Also, @ tubes4good mentioned 'anything on Chesky'.  My Chesky LPs are excellent (~10, or so), but I would give the upper SQ-hand to Harmonia Mundi (the original French records, not the BASF French-German records, which are a step lower in SQ).

You pick, and happy listening...

If you want a little more rock, Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

MO-FI 45 rpm recording.  Oh man.

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

Earl "Fatha" Hines.  Direct to Disc.  Vinyl version of course.

Fun, light and open.

@soix 

Acoustic Alchemy -  Arcanum - Casino:  tremendous playing, clarity, freq range.

                                                                instrumental.

The original CD version is much better than Qobuz.

Regards,

barts

 

Several of the MTV "Unplugged" recordings, stripped down acoustic (mostly) and usually very well recorded: Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots (hard to find MTV UK), Eric Clapton, 10,000 Maniacs, Lauryn Hill, Oasis, Florence and the Machine, Rod Stewart, Pearl Jam, Alanis Morissette, etc

For all us old white guys :)

Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris - Western Wall - Sweet Spot
Phosphorescent - Muchacho - Song for Zula
Nnenna Freelon - Better Than Anything - Straighten up and fly right
Paolo Fresu - Alma - Alma

For the under 18 crowd I haven't a clue...  Maybe

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs - Walking Spanish

I always check these frequent threads on various forums (and magazines etc) looking for new tracks to check out. Frequently it's "the usual" but some great new (to me) ones on this thread. Thanks!

In case they weren't already mentioned here, a couple back at you:

Helplessly Hoping by Anna Nalick

Bad Guy Billie Eilish

Witches Cowboy Junkies

Acid Tongue Jenny Lewis

What's New Linda Ronstadt

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Sara Bareilles

Hotter Colder This is the Kit

 

Many good suggestions so far...here's a few of mine..

- Paul Simon - anything on Graceland

- Alice in Chains - Live at the Majestic

- Jeff Lorber - My Bass

- Malia - Raising Venus

- Frank Zappa - Can't afford no shoes

- Carbon Based Lifeforms - Seeker

 

Last night when I finished up I did some major speaker repositioning and I just got finished with six hours plus of delicious break-in/auditioning of those Revel speakers. Because of that, I thought of three more tracks that might meet your criteria.

From that test disc I alluded to in a previous post ("My Disc" The Sheffield/A2TB Test Disc) is Dish Rag which was originally on I’ve Got The Music In Me/Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker. It never hit me until tonight how good it sounds, and particularly the sound of the trombone stuck with me tonight. (I listened to it twice.) The blurb on the CD insert says to pay attention to the voices of the two keyboards and the "vertical lift in the entire sound as the horns come in over the keys." Hmmm, and they also noted the "fat sound" of the trombone that I liked.

On the Chesky CD The Raven by Rebecca Pigeon, she does what I would consider an almost ethereal cover of Spanish Harlem. That is one of those CDs that Chesky brags about the great job they did of micing it and not manipulating it any further. It struck me that Rebecca Pigeon played a non musical role in that movie with Al Pacino starring as Phil Spector. She played the role of an assistant to his defense team.

Back sometime back in the ’90s I bought the self titled CD by a group called Once Blue (lead vocalist, Rebecca Martin) because I really liked the nuances and inflections of her vocals. The track I suggest is Trumansburg. (Which I believe is a town somewhere in NY.) Besides what I can pick up on her vocals, on that track I used to hear (I don’t know much about music, so bear with me) this distinct "shoomp" sound (I remember thinking that it sounded real) when whoever was playing the cymbals stepped on that pedal thing that made them compress real distinctly. I haven’t been able to hear that "distinct "shoomp" nearly as clearly for quite some time, and I tried it again tonight, but either it made a bigger impact on me back then because I was new to better-end stuff, or I have lost the frequency that I was hearing that so clearly on, or the room I moved all my stuff into several years ago is flawed to the point that the sound I remember is not reproduced as well. But regardless, the CD is probably what would be considered cut a bit hot and up front, and I find the stuff in her vocals subtle and neat to hear.

Moby, "Heroes" (Reprise Version) featuring Mindy Jones.  Quobuz.

Haunting, beautiful, cover of the David Bowie song.  Superb recording!

 

I should mention I can’t currently play vinyl for this application (but feel free to make recommendations) and my main source is Qobuz but can buy/play CDs if necessary.

Great suggestions!!  Thanks all. 

Heres a few that I have on my showing off playlist:

Kaiowa by Sepultura. Drum track.  Sounds like the set is in my room. 

Just My Imagination. The Temptations

That's the way. Zeppelin

Till Tomorrow. Yello

Chears!!

Your list should be full now.

@boxcarman Never.  Keep’em coming!  I’m enjoying them all and hoping others are benefitting from this as well.

And if you have DVD-A or 5.1 SACD capability, consider that.  It's more of a wow factor for many folks. 

Your list should be full now.  All good.  I will suggest Earl Klugh and Bob James  "Cool". 

A few great albums…
 

Loggins and Messina, Full Sail, the whole album, but check out Pathway to Glory.

Janis Ian, Breaking Silence is remarkable, as is Hunger.

The Mighty Sam McClain, Give it Up for Love, especially Too Proud.

 

And some tracks…

Janelle Monae Make Me Feel

Vienna Teng. 1BR/1BA

Terse Isungset Fading Sun

Chris Jones No Sanctuary Here

@Troutstream

I checked our Kit Walker and it's produced by Andy Narrell. He plays steel pans and his albums are some of the best sounding recordings I own. Highly recommend his Little Secrets album from 1989. It has the legendary Bernie Grundman as Mastering Engineer. Obviously, Andy took very good notes. Thanks for the recommendation.